David West

1937 - 2023

David West
June 14, 1937 - August 10, 2023
Cary, North Carolina - David Lee West, a long-time resident of Kansas City, died in Cary, North Carolina, his home since 2020, on August 10, 2023. David was born on June 14, 1937, the elder of two sons of Elmer Lee West and Susan Sigler West. He is survived by his wife Margaret (Peggy) Daniels West, their daughter Carolyn Kessler (Grant) of Chicago, Illinois, their daughter Anne Fessler (Michael) of Cary, North Carolina, and their grandson, Jacob Daniel Fessler of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. David is also survived by his brother Robert Hartley West and his wife Sally, and by beloved nieces, great-nieces and nephews, and cousins.
Dave graduated from Shawnee Mission High School in 1955. While there, he was at various times class president, summer exchange student to Germany, chairman of the student council and editor-in-chief of the yearbook. The highlight of his senior year was meeting Peggy.
In June of 1959 Dave graduated from Princeton University and was commissioned as an artillery officer through the ROTC program. In August of that year Peggy and Dave were married in Kansas City. A three-year military deferral allowed Dave to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1962 and then return immediately to Kansas City to accept employment with the law firm known throughout most of his career as Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary and Lombardi.
As planned, Dave retained his artillery commission with its two-year service obligation. After completing missile training in El Paso, Texas, Dave became the executive officer of a HAWK air defense battery in Bad Kissingen, Germany, early in 1963. Although he later sometimes said his job had been "defending a German spa," at that time the location close to the Iron Curtain served as part of the defense for the air corridor between Frankfurt and Berlin. Dave and Peggy enjoyed renting a small apartment in the German town, but life on the missile site could be tense. Dave was the officer on duty the night a message was received that President Kennedy had been assassinated. The site's highest level of "readiness" was reached.
In the fall of 1964 Dave, by then a captain, completed his military service and returned to the law firm in Kansas City for a career there that spanned more than 45 years. Daughters Carolyn and Anne were born in 1967 and 1970. Dave's first few years as a lawyer were primarily devoted to support of the firm's jury trial partners with numerous depositions and non-jury court appearances in Kansas City and throughout northwest Missouri. Included was representation of the firm's trusts and estates lawyers in probate proceedings on a variety of issues. Dave's practice in that area expanded. In 1979, Dave was elected to a national organization now known as the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. When elected, he was the youngest of the small group of Kansas City members. Dave eventually became the senior member of the firm's Kansas City estate planning group. In 2008 Dave became of counsel to the firm, by then, as now, known as Husch Blackwell.
Civic activities for Dave included his early involvement with the Boys' Club of Kansas City and seven years as a board member of the Girl Scouts of northwest Missouri. He was a member of University Associates at UMKC and served a year as president. He also served six years on the board of St. Luke's Hospital Foundation, including several years as chairman of its planned giving committee. In addition, he served two terms on the board of Bishop Spencer Place, now an affiliate of the hospital. Dave was active in the Kansas City alumni association of Princeton University for over 40 years and served many years on Princeton's national planned giving committee, while also being involved in national committee work for the class of 1959.
Memberships for Dave included his eating club at Princeton, where he served as president, and Mission Hills Country Club in Kansas City, where he served as president in 1992. As a member of the River Club he served two years as secretary and one as executive vice president. He was a member of Mercury Club for over 40 years and served on its board.
After his retirement, the favorite travel destination for Dave and Peggy was Chatham on Cape Cod, where they had a house for many years-used too little until retirement and more frequently thereafter. Reading, writing, golf, bridge and foreign travel were favorites for Dave, but the first priority each year for Dave and Peggy was scheduling time with both daughters and their families on Cape Cod, in Kansas City, North Carolina, Chicago, or elsewhere.
Peggy and Dave were married for almost 64 years and were members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Kansas City. In lieu of flowers please consider a contribution to the church (standrewkc.org/give) or St. Luke's Hospital Foundation (saintlukeskc.org). A funeral service will be held at St. Andrew's church, 6401 Wornall Terrace, on October 6, 2023, at 2:00 p.m.